Assuming one particular aspect of inheritance law is similar in my state as in Maryland, if Angelos sells while alive, then he gets taxed on the profits made over his entire ownership (that is, the raw dollars number of current value [price he sells at] minus basis value [price he bought at], with no adjustment for inflation or anything. Once the legally owning entity changes (i.e. it goes from Angelos to estate of Angelos) then the new owning entity gets the current value as a stepped-up basis and that profit-over-time tax is null.